The Haunted: Part 1
by E.M.R. Harrison
Summary: Part one of a new short story series. Is Sylar finally cracking? Or is his conscience finally coming into play?


The Haunted: Part 1

It was gloomily dark as I opened my eyes to look around the room. The sun had been down for hours as I had tossed and turned in a vain attempt drift into a restful slumber. I slid my tired body to a sitting position and leaned against the headboard of my bed as I attempted to adjust my eyes. Something moved out of the corner of my eye and I could not tell what it was in the darkness. A rat most likely considering that I was alone, as always. No pets, no family, not even a permanent home. That was my life, hopping from motel to motel under assumed identities.

I caught the motion again and tilted my head in confusion looking towards the corner, then I heard it. The distinct sound of something scratching at the hard stone floor, definitely had to be a rat then. I lifted a brow in frustration as I slowly lifted a finger off of the bed. The light switch on the far side of the room clicked on in a bright flash that had me temporarily blinded.

I blinked my eyes against the sudden brightness trying to get the yellow spots off of my eyeballs fruitlessly. A blur of movement flashed to the left of me the moment the light had come on however I was unable to make out what it was. When my eyes did come of use to me there was nothing there, not even a scratch mark on the floor. I shook my head and heaved a frustrated sigh before turning to my right so I could slide off of my bed.

I stopped in my tracks, my feet hovering barely off the side of the bed. I wasn't one to be easily startled, quite the contrary in fact, but my heart leapt into my throat. As my jaw hit the floor the rest of me remained paralyzed at the horrid site in front of me. I could not move as I tried to speak all I managed was a slight squeal.

As my heartbeat increased the blood began to flow into my limbs and my legs grew tired as my feet slid to the floor of their own accord. My hands remained at my sides holding me in place on the bed. My breathing increased with deep calculated breaths in an attempt to slow my heart. Then it looked up at me with a tilted head and a half smile.

A low growl escaped the lips of the wretched thing in front of me. I didn't know how it had gotten there but I knew my mind had to have been playing tricks on me. This couldn't be happening, there was no way possible.

I finally found my voice and was able to produce the words I had meant to say when I had squealed. "You're dead." was all I could manage.

The head tilted to the other side in a childlike manner. "Dead?" was all the deep voice said.

I blinked and took a deep breath swallowing the lump that had hardened in my throat. The one the weak voice had rolled over to form the two words I had just uttered a moment ago. "Dead. I saw your body. They buried you." I managed.

The head tilted to the other side the shoulder length black hair forming a frame around the skeletal face that stared back at me from the crouched figure before me. The face then began to check it's body as if it were new to them. It's hands began to feel about the loose fitting clothes and I noticed the elongated fingernails at the ends of each twig like finger. So much had changed about him, yet he was still familiar to me. Was it a ghost come back to haunt me? Or had I actually fallen asleep and this was just one hell of a nightmare?

The face looked back up at me and it's body began to crawl towards me like some perversion of what human movement should be like. I slid back onto the middle of the bed to get away from the creature before me. If that's what it was. "How are you here? How did you get here?" I asked. "Do you even know who you are?" I added as an afterthought, not sure of the answer.

The figure stopped moving as I spoke and rested in a crouching position like some sort of bird watching from a perch. It's eyes drifted to the floor then the figure sat as still as a corpse. In fact it sat so still for so long that I thought maybe it had just died all of the sudden. After what seemed like an eternity it looked up at me with a fire in it's light brown eyes.

A snarl rose from it's lips as it glared a hole through my face. "I was Nathan Petrelli, and you killed me." he growled.

My mouth formed an o as I stared at the gaunt form of the once well framed man of my past. He had to have been a ghost, but why did he look so solid and alive yet dead? He moved like no other, and there was something different about his movement, or lack there of.

"I'm sorry I took your life Nathan but you came after me first." I said trying to sound convincing. I wasn't really sorry for killing him, he was a thorn in my side and one of the few I did not regret taking out.

Corpse Nathan growled his next words and I felt them deep in my chest. "You are not sorry." he said barely above a whisper.

I looked him in his sunken in eyes my fear finally gone. "Then are you here for revenge? I intend to put up a fight if you are." I warned.

The ghastly form of former senator Nathan Petrelli pitched his head back in a bark like laugh at my words. He looked up at me with a soul penetrating glare that chilled me right down to my very bones. Then before I knew what was going on the form was no longer in front of me.

I leapt to my feet in fear turning to face the rest of the room. Nathan was now perched on the back of the chair in the opposite corner of the room like a predator about to pounce. A demonic look filled his face as he smirked at me from across the room.

"How do you intend to fight what you can not catch Sylar." Nathan said in a cold crisp voice.

The change in his tone was like that of someone who was speaking for the first time after going ages without using their vocal cords. It was as though they were now warming up to a sinister resonance.

My mouth was beginning to feel like the Sahara desert as my palms began to sweat. What had just happened and who was this garbled version of one of my victims. Would I start seeing the other people I killed in the same way. Was he like the ghost of Sylar's past come to show me just where I went wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have killed Nathan but he hadn't left me much of a choice. He deserved it, he was a meddlesome fool.

The air in my throat became constricted so suddenly that it took me a moment to realize exactly why. I blinked and saw that Nathan had a frail hand around it. His long nails were digging into my skin so deeply that I could feel the warmth of the blood trickling down from underneath them. It was the only warmth I felt however. Nathan's hand was as cold as ice, and although it looked as brittle and fragile as that of an old man's, it sure had one hell of a grip.

I gagged and gasped fighting for air kicking my feet and realizing only then that I had been lifted completely off the floor. Nathan glared up at me, his brown eyes now fiery red and full of anger and hate. I found my hand lifting up on it's own accord and grabbing his wrist in a futile attempt to pry the cold fingers from my aching neck. Then in a matter of moments I suddenly remembered my powers. The other hand lifted as I pointed a finger at Nathan's own neck. A slight cut appeared but no blood appeared in the sudden gash on his neck. A second later the slit closed up right before my eyes.

I blinked in astonishment not knowing what to think of the situation. I used my mind to try to force him back but his grip didn't loosen and instead we both flew into the other wall with a crash. He was like a parasite that I could not be rid of. My head began to swim from the lack of oxygen as I tried to think of a way to fight back. My vision began to blur as my lungs started screaming for air.

Nathan's face swam in and out of focus as an evil smirk filled it. He said something but I could not make out the words over the sound of my own heartbeat thumping against my eardrums. The room began to grow dark as my eyelids began to grow heavy and slowly close without my consent. The last thing I felt was the warmth of the blood running from the wounds on my neck down my bare chest before the room went completely dark.

I sat up with a gasp of fresh air and instinctively reached up to touch my neck. It was not sore, nor did it have any signs that there had just been long razor like nails digging into it moments previously. I turned the light on with a simple thought and half expected to see Nathan perched on the back of the chair. There was nobody there at all. The only sound was that of my own beating heart and a sigh of relief. It was only a dream, a dream that had felt so real.

To Be Continued….


End file.
